360˚ Video Now On Facebook And YouTube

360˚ video players have now been adopted by two of the biggest platforms in social media and content sharing – Facebook and YouTube. 360˚ videos can be easily shared with huge global audiences at the touch of a button.

360˚ camera manufacturers and editing software suites have made huge leaps forward over recent months and several companies, including Atticus, are making highly engaging and high quality 360˚ videos. However, now that social media is providing an outlet that reaches the masses those 360˚ videos can be shared much easier.

Facebook's purchase of Virtual Reality technology leader Oculus Rift was a clear indication that Mark Zuckerberg saw great potential in VR and its application through social media. However, the technology is still in development and VR isn't fully ready for the masses until next year. Facebook has now also embraced 360˚ and their built-in 360˚ video player allows content to be uploaded and encoded so that Facebook users can experience full 360˚. By opening a 360˚ video on their desktop, tablet or smart phone Facebook's 1.19 billion monthly users can move their phone in any direction and see a full 360˚ experience.

YouTube have also been at the forefront of content creation and delivery for the last few years. The internet's second biggest search engine is home to a plethora of readily available content and the company is always looking at new ways to deliver that content. YouTube is also owned by Google, who have pioneered Google Cardboard – an easy to use and affordable solution for bringing VR to the market place. A simple fold down cardboard headset houses your mobile phone and allows anyone with a smart phone to experience VR and 360˚ content. Now, YouTube have followed suit with the 360˚ video player and that 360˚ content can be played by the 1 billion plus users who watch billions of hours of video online each day.

Both Facebook and YouTube require Google Chrome for their players to work on a desktop, with Windows Explorer and Apple's Safari browsers not having the capability. However, both players work on mobile devices without requiring an additional browser or plug in.

Here at Atticus we have been pioneering 360˚ video for some time and have even won a BAFTA Cymru award for our Neilson Holidays Windsurfing experience. Our team flew out to Turkey to shoot the windsurfing video with a 360˚ Go Pro camera rig. We have also been working on a variety of other 360˚ videos over the last two months, including a 360˚ athletics video for a major sporting brand in Florida and 360˚ coverage of the Lloyds Bank Cardiff Half Marathon for BBC Wales. This week we have also shot 360˚ content for a new interactive experience to promote the next series of Fiction Factory's Hinterland airing on both BBC Wales and S4C.

Atticus are fast becoming industry leaders in 360˚ video and can now bring our 360˚ content to audiences using Facebook and YouTube.

So, the big question is...

Would you rather watch 360˚ video on Facebook or YouTube?

www.atticusdigital.com

(JP)